BOYS HOOPS: Big OT win for Knights

GUYS MILLS – It’s been a great couple of nights for an Eisenhower boys basketball team that was struggling early in the season.

In fact, Eisenhower (8-13 overall and 5-6 in Region 3) has won three straight games, and two in two nights, after an eight-game losing streak earlier this year.

The latest came in overtime, 53-49 over Maplewood, on Wednesday.

“The kids played with a lot of heart tonight,” said Eisenhower coach Dave Allenson. “They were determined not to lose. Last couple of night, they’ve got me pumped up, too.”

Without knowing where they stand in the District 10 Class A playoff picture, the Knights are showing they can win when they are supposed to, and when they have to.

On Wednesday, “it seemed like we were fighting an uphill battle,” said Allenson, “We had trouble getting the ball to the basket (in the second quarter), and we took horrible shots, and it was due to their defensive pressure.”

Up 15-7 after one quarter – with Aaron Lundmark scoring 11 points, Maplewood took at three-point halftime lead with a 12-1 second quarter.

Lundmark scored another 11 of his game-high 25 points in the third quarter, and Alex Johnson was “all over everything,” he said. Before you knew it, Eisenhower led again – by two points with less than 20 seconds to go in regulation. An Ike foul on a Maplewood 3-pointer – with two of three free throws made – tied the score, and sent the game to overtime.

In OT, Maplewood took a two-point lead, but Ryan Williams, Alex Johnson, Colin Shine and Jarrett Johnson scored in a 7-3 extra period.

Eisenhower has a make-up game at Conneaut next week, but the Knights’ playoff aspirations will have already been decided – likely due to the number of Class A teams selected (4 or 6). Maplewood is 6-16 and 3-9 in region.